Grain-cleaner



C. A. TORRENCE.

GRAIN CLEANER.

APPLICATIQN FILED S.EPT.3, 1 919. RENEWED MAY H, 192(- 3 32 0 Patented June 28, 1921.,

4 SHEETS-SHEET l.

C. A. TORRENCE.

GRAIN CLEANER. APPLICATION FILED sums, 1919. RENEWED MAY 11, 1921.

0. A. TORRENCE.

GRAIN CLEANER AEPLlCATION FILED SEPT-3.1919.,RENEW'ED MAY u,1921.

1,383,260, Patented. June 28, 1921.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

C. A. TORRENCE.

GRAIN CLEANER." v APPLICATIQN FILED SEPT. 3. I919. RENEWED'MAY 11. I921.

Patented June 28, 1921.

4 SHEETS-SHEET '4.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES ARGYLE TORRENCE, or WINNIIEG, MANITOBA, omens.

GRAIN-CLEANER.

1,383,260. Application filed September 3, 1919,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES ARGYLE TonnENcE, of the city of Winnipeg, in the Province of Manitoba, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Grain-Cleaners, of which the following is the specification.

The invention relates to improvements in grain cleaning machines and the principal object of the invention is to provide a large capacity machine which will initially clean grain by utilizing specially controlled air currents and stationary screens, the machine being designed to pick up the grain from a wagon, hopper or such like through a pickup spout and to discharge the cleaned grain through a discharge spout and the undesirable material such as dirt, small seeds, chaff, dust, crushed grain, etc, to a further dirt collecting spout.

A further object of the invention is to construct the machine in a compact manner and with few moving parts and such that the screens can be readily changed to suit requirements.

A still further object is to provide a special feeder for feeding the partially cleaned grain from the vacuum box into the discharge pipe in a running stream and such that there can be no back pressure through the feeder to the vacuum box.

A still further object is to provide'a special support for the feed spout which allows of it being easily moved by the attendant to accommodate the work in hand and also permits of the lengthening or shortening of the spout depending on the conditions existing.

With the above and more important objects and certain other minor objects in view the invention consists essentially in the arrangement and construction of parts hereinafter more particularly described and later pointed out in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which Figure l is a side view of the complete machine and as it appears mounted on a carrying truck.

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a rear end view, the truck being omitted.

Fig. 4 is a front end view, being in vertical section and beam being removed.

certain parts the swlnglng Specification of Letters Patent.

Serial No. 321,401. Renewed May 11, 1921.

Patented June, 28, 1921.

Serial No. 468,724.

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view through the machine with the swinging beam removed.

Fig. 6 is a detailed side view of the drive for the feeder.

v Fig. 7 is a fragmentary plan view of the brackets which support the socket plate.

Fig. 8 is a vertical sectionalview through the pivot block supporting the swinging gllo eami the section being taken at 8-8' *ig. y g a Fig. 9 is an enlarged detailed horizontal sectional view through one side of the vacbox, the section being taken at 9-9 1g. 5.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures. I

The cleaner is mounted on a truck embodying a supporting table or platform 1 carried by rear wheels 2' and front wheels 3, the axle 4 of the front wheels being pivoted in the ordinary manner to allow of the steering of the truck when moving from place to' place.

On the rear end of the platform I mount the base 5 of a fan casing 6 containing a fan 7 which is carried by the fan shaft 8, one end of the fan shaft being fitted with a driving pulley 9. Above the fan casing I locate my vacuum box or casing 10 which is carried by suitably disposed. front and rear sets of side legs 11 and 12 secured to the platform and to the sides of the box.

The bodyof the box issubstantially rectangular and it is provided at the top with a door 13 located directly to the rear of. an open bottomed cross hood 14 fitted on the top side with a sight opening115, the sight opening being closed with glass or other similar transparent material. A screen 16 crosses the bottom of the hood closing the opening between the hoodand the vacuum box. irectly in advance of the hood the front end of the box is formed with a flaring extension 17 which terminates. in a horizontally disposed thimble 18 to which I connect the grain feed spout 19 feeding to the vacuum box.

20 represents a distributing pan followingthe inner contour of the box at the sides and extending inwardly within the box from the thimble and forming with the top of the box a contracted discharge opening 21 which passes from side to side of the box ina location slightly in advance of the hood.

The space between the pan and the top' of the box is divided by spaced vertically disposed div-isionaljplates-22 which serve to scatter the grain coming in through .the less evenly dis-. tributed throughout the full width of the discharge opening i .To the .rear'end of the vacuum box I conpipe 19 so that it is more or similar air pipes extending from the ends of the hood and lead- V downwardly, the upper upper and lower valves 37 mg to-the sides oftheextension 23, their points of entrance. to .the interior of. the extension being horizontally opposite and the ends of the pipes attached to the extension being horizontally disposed as best shown' in Figs.3and 1 5 a deflector I located in the designed to deflect the ma terial downwardly toward the pan. Within the vacuumbox I locate two screens 30 and 31 both'of which have their edges'received slidably within channel irons 32 fastened to the sides of the box, the arrangement being suchthat onecan, by opening the door '13, withdraw the screens from the vacuum box and changethem when desired. The front screen 30" inclines forwardly and downwardly, the upper end being positioned to the rear of the hood, while the lower end '29 represents thimble 18 and terminates at a cross strip 33 positionedon the bottom of the vacuum'box in a 1002131011 directly to the rear of the outlet spout 34 leadingfrom the bottom of'the vacuum box at the front end, r The screen 31 inclines rearwardly and end being positioned to the rear of the upper end of the screen 30 while the lower end terminates a short distance away "from the inner end of the bottom 24 of the extension 23 and thereby provides an escape passage 35 for material later disclosed. y l '36represents a draw-off spout leading from the-bottom of the vacuum box at the rear which. spout is provided with spaced and 38 carried by valve rods 39 and 40 which terminate in handles-41 and 42 positioned at the side of the machine.

a short distance 43is'a dischargespout leading from the bottom of the fan casing to which it is tangent. The outerjend of this spout can be connected with any suitable-point of discharge as occasion may demand. Between the" (inlet spout 3'4 and the discharge spout 431 locate a feeder 44 which comprises a casing 45 communicating-at the top with the spout 34- and at the bottom with the spout 43and a paddle wheel 46 rotatably mounted within the casing and carried bya' rotatably mounted cross shaft 4 The paddle wheel embodies a plurality of equispaced radially extending vanes or paddles 48 contained between side disks 49. forming receiving pockets 50 for the material coming down thespout '34. The casing 45 is constructed suchthat the top half of the wheel *hasmoving contact with the casing while the bottom half flares awayjat the frontand back from the wheel providing a clearance space 51 at the front and an inclined discharge chute 52 at the rear. a I

. 53 represents a vent pipe opening to; the interior of the casing in a location. in ad,-

Vance of the spout 34.

..'By' the arrangement herein .beforefdescribed it will be apparent that'the vacuum box is divided by the screens into three chambers indicated atA, l3 and .C, the feed spout 19 feeding to thechamber-A and the outlet spout 34 leading I from the chamber A, the draw-off. spout 36 leading-from the chamber B, the pipes 27 and 28 leading from the chamber 'Ato the chamber C andthe blast pipe 25 leading from the chamber C to the fan casing. 1 e

. The. drive for the fan and feeder. can be of any suitable form. In the present instance it comprises a front suitably. supported driving shaft 54 fitted with ajlarge pulley 54 and a pair of small pulleys 55 and 55", the pulley 55 being driven .by the-driving belt 56, while the pulley 54 drives the pulley 9 by meansrof a belt 57,. The pulley 55 is connected by means of a crossedibelt 58 to a driving pulley 59 carried by a, suitably mounted cross. shaft 60 and the cross shaft is fitted with a pinion 61 which meshes with a driving gear wheel 62 secured to the end of the feeder shaft 47. This construction provides a comparatively slow feed for the feeder and effectsa rotation in thedirection indicated by the applied arrow in Fig. 5. i

'The feed spout 19 has the inner end 19 thereofstationary and supported by an up wardly extending U-shapedbar63 extending outwardly from the vacuum box and with. the outer end reinforced by angularly disposed brace bars 64. In a location just in advance of the supporting bar thefeed spout is supplied with a flexible joint 65 which allows ofthe front end thereof being raised or lowered or swung laterally and towardthe outer end the said feed spout is fitted with a flexible elbow 66 which permits of the downwardly extending end 19 thereof being swung as. desired. Intermediately between'the flexible connections the spout is made up from several disjointable sections so that the length of it between these points can be increased or diminishedas wished.

In order to support the extending end of the feed spout so that it can be manipulated readily by the attendantI have provided a swinging beam 67 which overhangs .and supportsthe pipe and is swivelly supported in thefollowingway: 1

Two brace bars 68 and 69 extend one from the vacuum box and the other from the bar 63 and connect at a point above the feed spout where they form circular ring which clamps around a stationary bearing plate 70 fitted with a socket 71. 2 is a carrying block bearing on the plate 70 and provided with a centering pin-'73 entering the socket and fitted further with' a cross opening 74 slidably receiving'the beam. To the top of the block Isecure two arms 75 and 76 fitted with eyes through which I pass stays in the nature of cables 77', the front ends of the cables being permanently anchored to the front end of the beam at 78 while the rear ends are fitted with threaded extensions 79 which pass through an angle plate 80 secured to the rear end of the beam where they are provided with adjusting nuts 81.

he forward end of the beam carries a pulley 82 and over this I pass a rope or line 83 having one end free and the other end attached to the feed spout. By tightening up the nuts I can maintain the beam against end shifting while if desired I can move the beam endwise in the block by releasing the nuts, shifting the beam and then afterward tighten up the nuts'to hold'the beam in'the adjusted position. Y a I Here it will be noticed'that the beam-is elevated suificiently to clear thetop of the vacuum box and that should the beam be moved backwardly one can shiftback the strap 84 on the spout or can leave the strap as it is and remove a section or two of the spout. j

Obviously the beam relieves the weight of the outer end of the feed spout andmakes it very easy for the attendant to adjust the spout to suit requirements as by manipulating the line 83 he can raise or lower the spout and after having made his adjust-- ment he can tie the line to maintain the spout in the adjusted position. The lateral swinging ofthe spout is accommodated by the 7flexible connection ancl the pivot pin 3. V a The operation ofthe machine is as follows, assuming the parts driven in order to operate the feeder and the fan, it being here understood that the fan effects a suction in the pipe 25 and a blast in the pipe 43 and that the outer end of the feed spout'is placed in a wagon, hopper, car or such like contain; ing the grain to be cleaned.

e suction produced in the vacuum box by the fan draws the grain and other mate rial in through the spout 19 and'as it reaches the deflector it is deflected downwardly and then afterward immediately spread by the spreader so that it passes in through the opening 21 to the chamber A, being directed to the "screen 30. This screen separates the grain, such as wheat andlargermaterial, from the small seeds, chafland dust, these latter going through the screen into the chamber B. The separated material is fed to the spout 34 which directs it to the feeder. 1 The screen 31 is considerably finerthan the screen'3O and it is designed to only let'dust and very fine dirt through to the chamber C. The other material entering the chamber B through the screen 30 is directed to the spout 36 and here it is to be noticed that one or other ofthe valves 37 and 38 is closed so as to prevent out-draft through the spout when the machine is working. The material ac cumulating in this spout/is removed by first closing the valve38, then opening-the valve 37 to let the material drop through and then afterward closing the valve 37 and opening the valve 38 to permit the material to'discharge from the lower end ofthe spout.

the machine is in operation there is a strong draft through the pipes 27 and 28, this draft being an upward one to the pipes from the chamber A and a horizontal one inwardly at the chamber C, the blasts from the pipes actually blowing 7 directly against each other in the chamber. The up draft from the chamber A serves to keep the surface of the screen 30 clean, preventing blanketing and it carries with it a certain amount of the foreign material suspended in the chamber A, the screen 16 being of a mesh such that it will not allow wheat to go through. The material entering the hood with the upward air current is carried out through the" pipes 27 and 28 and directed into the chamber C with the blast and here is dropped for the greater part on to the inclined bottom 24 where it slides down through the'opening 35 into the spout 36. j By directing the two side blasts into the chamber C in the manner shown I find that a great proportion of the material suspended in the incoming the bottom 24, this the fact that the opposing blasts knock the heads out of each other, so-to speak, and so deposit the suspended material. The grain delivered by the spout 34 to the feeder enters the pockets of the paddle wheel and in the rotation of'the paddle wheel falls down from the pocket at the undersideof the wheel and is caught by the inclined part 52 which delivers the grain in a falling stream across the discharge spout where it isswept ahead by the out-going blast from the fan and is delivered in the blast from the outer end of the dischargespout.

Qbviouslythe arrangement of the paddle a back pressure 'from in its casing prevents the outlet spout. The

the discharge spout to vent 53 effects a reduction to atmospheric blasts is dropped on to probably being due to pressure of any air entrappedinthe passing pocket as the paddle rotates. .Valves85 and 86 are provided in the'pipes 27 and 2.8 to allow of the control of'the blast therein'.:

In connection withthislmachine I may herein mention that I- utilize it as associated with a further machine which I "term a su-.

the spout and fan, a discharge spout com-1 municating with the fan, anrotary feeder associated with thedischarge spout and an outlet spout for cleanedgrain leading from the'casing to the feeder. y V v 2. In a grain cleaning machine, a casing, screens dividing the casing into a number, 0 chambers, a grain feeding spout communieating withone of the chambers,a fancommunicating with another of; the chambers, a wind discharge spout operated by the fan, a feeder associated with the discharge spout and an outlet spout for'cleaned grain extending between the casing and the feeder."

. Ina grain cleaning machine, a casing, screens dividingthe casing into front', inter mediate and rear chambers, spout leading to the front chamber, a. fan communicating with the rear chamber, a draw-off spout communicating with the in-} termediate chamber, a blastdischarge spout operated by the fan and. an outlet spout leading from the front chamber and communieating with-the discharge spout. f

4. In a grain cleanlng, machine, a casing,

screens dividingthe casinginto front, inter-.

mediate and rear chambers,a grain feeding" spout leading to the front draw-off spout communicating with theintermediate chamber, a blast discharge spout operatedbythe fan, a rotary feeder: asso-' ciated with the discharge spout and anoutlet spout leading from theafront chamber to the feeder.

5. In a grain cleaning machine,'a'casing,'

screens dividing thecasing into front, inter.- mediate and rear chambers, spout leading to the normally closed draw-off spoutcommunicating with the intermediate chamber, a blast a grain feeding diate chamber, meansfordrawing 7 chamber, a fan. communicating withthe rear chamber, a

a grain feeding. fI'OIltj chamber, a fan. communicating with the. rear chamber, a:

spout and an outletspoutleading from the front chamber to the feeder. V r

6.. In a graincleaning machine, a casing, a grain feeding spout communicating with the front end of the casing, an air suction pipe. communicating withthe rear end1of the casing, separating screens crossing the casingand dividing thesame into front, rear and intermediate chambers, means for drawingoff the material separated by the screens and means for effecting an upward air blast acrossthe surface of the front screen. 7 a 7. In a grain cleaning. machine, a casing,

aerainfeeding spout communicatingwith e12 front endof the casing,an air suction pipecommunicating with therear end of the casing, separating screens crossing the casing and dividingthe same into front, rear and intermediate chambers, means for drawingzoff the material separated by'thescreen's and a suction air pipe leading from the. front chamber and communicating with. the former air pipe and designed to effect an upwardair draft across the frontscreen.

8. In-a grain cleaning machine, a casing, a grainfeeding spout communicating with the front end ofrthe casing, an air suction pipe communicating with therearj end of the casing, separating screens crossing the casing and dividing the came into front, rear and intermediate chambers, means for drawing off the material separate'drby the screens, a suction air pipele'ading fromthe front chamber and communica ing with the former air 'pipe and'designed to effect an upward air draft, across the front screen and a screen guardingthe end of the air pipe leading from the front chamber.

9.v In a grain cleaningmachine, a casing, a grain feedings'pout leading to the front end of the casing, a suction air pipe leading from therear end of the casing, separating screens passing across the casing and dividing it; into a front, a rear and an intermeoff the material separated by the screens, associatedwiththe front chamber and air pipesfleadingfrom the hood to the rear. chamber. 7 1 w 10. In a grain cleaning. machine, a casing, a grain feed spout communicating with the front end of the casing, an air suction pipe leading from the rearfendof the casing, front and rear downwardly diverging cleaning screens crossing the casing and dividing it into front, rear and intermediate chame bers, means for withdrawing the material caught by-and deposited from the screens and anair'pipe leading fromthe top of the front chamber to. signed toprovide'an-up draft'to prevent the blanketing: of thefront screen.

11. Inga grain cleaning machine, acasing,

a hood,

the rear chamber and dea grain feed spout communicating with the front end of the casing, an air suction p pe leading from the rear end of the casing, front and rear downwardly diverging cleaning screens crossing the casing and dividing it into front, rear and intermediate chambers, means for Withdrawing the ma terial caught by and deposited from the screens, a hood located on the top of the casing immediately in advance of the front screen, a screen guarding the entrance end of the hood and a pair of air pipes leading from the hood to the opposite sides of the casing and opening to the rear chamber of the casing at horizontally opposite points.

12. In a grain cleaning machine, a casing, a grain feed spout opening to one end of the casing at the top, an upstanding inclined screen crossing the casing, a distributing pan crossing the casing and extending inwardly of the casing from the feed spout and having the inner end thereof forming with the top of the casing a contracted discharge opening opposing the screen and vertically disposed divisional platesextending between the pan and the top of the casing and designed to distribute the incoming grain evenly over the pan.

Signed at Winnipeg, this 25th day of August, 1919.

CHARLES ARGYLE TORRENCE. In the presence of-- S. ROXBURGH, W. C. BOGGISS. 

